“The following night the Lord stood near Paul and said, ‘Take courage! As you have testified about me in Jerusalem, so you must also testify in Rome.’” Acts 23:11 (NIV)
Paul experienced intense opposition as he shared the gospel in Jerusalem. He caused turbulence in the Temple among the crowd and chaos as he faced the court, the Sanhedrin. His body was almost torn into pieces by the mob and almost flogged by the military. Paul’s encounters in Jerusalem produced the fruit of failure from the worldly perspective. However, God was at work in the midst of severe adversity.
Don’t bypass Jerusalem; God will use it to get you to Rome. Our natural proclivity is to take the path of least resistance. We dodge the potholes of life and seek the terrain of minimal pain. Yet, God often allows us to go through adversity to get us where He wants us. God will use the hammer of adversity and the chisel of suffering to conform us into the image of Christ and to prepare us for our next assignment.
Moses had to leave the luxury of the palace to go to the desert. There are some things God wanted to teach Moses in the desert that he could not learn in the palace. By the way, the bush wasn’t burning in the palace. God used the desert to train Moses in shepherding to equip him to lead the children of Israel out of Egyptian bondage. Moses had to go through his personal Jerusalem, the desert, to get to his Rome.
If God allows adversity in your life, He will use it for your good and for His glory. Jesus comforted Paul with the assurance of testifying in Rome. Paul had a longing to go to Rome to preach the gospel. God was giving Paul the desires of his heart. Just when Paul thought that Jerusalem was the end of the road, God built a bridge through adversity to Rome.
Pursuing God,
Stephen Trammell
Executive Pastor